The Ministry of Mines and Petroleum of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has informed that extraction of oil from the Qashqari oil field of Sar-e-Pul has been contracted.
“Contract for extraction of oil from Qashqari oil field in Sar-e-Pul has been conducted in an open process with an Afghan company to extract 10,000 tons of oil from the field,” said Mufti Burhan, a spokesperson for the ministry of mines and petroleum.
Burhan said that the contract was for a short period of time (50 days), adding that the company would extract 1ton oil for $631 and the total amount would reach to $6.3 million which would be submitted to the government’s budget. According to the spokesperson of the ministry of mines and petroleum, talks with a Chinese company are ongoing for the extraction of oil from the Qashqari oil field. He said that the Chinese company would extract the oil with high price after this short period of time in case they reached to an agreement with the company.
Ministry of mines and petroleum of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) says the extraction of mines has been started in the country as a number of domestic companies as well as some Chinese companies have shown interest and shared their proposals to invest in extraction of various mines with the ministry of mines and petroleum.
Extraction of oil from Qashqari oil field in Sar-e-Pul was opened by first deputy of Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in early April. There are 10 oil wells in Qashqari field and the extraction of oil from the field will reach to 200 tons. Currently, nine oil wells are operating and with the extraction of oil from the field, the IEA will have $150,000 incomes on daily basis.
A number of Afghan economists believe that extraction of oil from different oil fields in the country will help Afghanistan reach self-sufficiency from the point of economy. Undoubtedly, opening and extraction of oil from such oil fields will help Afghanistan boost its economy. It is worth mentioning that Qashqari oil project is considered as one of the country’s top and necessary economic projects and extraction of oil from the field will help the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to open and implement new reconstruction projects in the country. Sar-e-Pul and Faryab provinces have three oil fields; they are Qashqari, Qom Bazaar and Zamarod. According to official statistics, the amount of proven reserves in this area is estimated at 87 million barrels. Saida Ahmadi